Fighting out of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Felipe Silva, 34, has joined Bahrain-based mixed martial arts promotion Brave Combat Federation. Training out of CM System in Curitiba, Brazil where he works as a coach, the Brazilian striker previously competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A Muay Thai and kickboxing champion, Silva competed in the lightweight division in the UFC from 2016 to 2018, winning one out of three bouts in the promotion. He has signed a multi-fight deal with Brave CF and is expected to make his promotional debut later this year.

While Silva competed for most of his career at lightweight, he expressed his desire to test himself at super lightweight. On April 19, 2019, Brave CF crowned Eldar “Khan” Eldarov, 27, of Bahrain as its first ever super lightweight world champion after beating Mounir “The Sniper” Lazzez, 31, of Tunisia at “Brave 23: Pride and Honor” at the Martyr Rashid Al-Ziyoud Hall Boxing Arena in Amman, Jordan.

Brave CF has yet to announce the first challenger of Eldarov, who trains out of KHK MMA in Bahrain, but Silva could be a good candidate. Currently, the CM System athlete holds a professional MMA record of 8 wins and 2 losses and six of his wins came by way of knockout or technical knockout.

Aside from Silva, several CM System athletes are in the Brave CF roster. Also in the promotion are the gym’s head coach Cristiano Marcello, 41, as well as reigning Brave CF Lightweight World Champion Luan “Miau” Santiago, 24, welterweight sensation Geraldo “Luan Santana” Coelho de Lima Neto, 28, and featherweight contender Gabriel “Fly” Miranda, 29, who are all fighting out of Brazil.

Silva has long been a big part of the success of CM System roster serving as the main striking coach for the team. Santiago has especially celebrated the signing of his coach while Neto promised the gym would take over all the major weight divisions of Brave CF.

Born on August 5, 1984 in Juiz de Fora, Silva has been competing professionally as an MMA fighter since 2013. He was undefeated from 2013 to 2016 until he lost twice in a row in the UFC.